Thursday, August 22, 2013

Okay, so the rye in this one is not technically a US American ("Everywhere like such as."). It's a Canadian(-American). And yes, I did report on the official version of this rye six months ago, but I wanted to give the juice another chance. Since there was some agreement in the comments section that Jefferson's varies batch by batch, I thought I'd go with a small batch that was chosen by hand by the good folks at Hi-Time.

Since this version might not be on their shelves anymore, and since I've already covered a different batch of the rye, and since it's not technically distilled in the U.S. of A. and thus doesn't really belong in this week's lineup, how about we keep this report moving, shall we?

A summary of my previous experiences with Jefferson's rye:
Zero minutes of wait time: Weird and new-makey, like piney nail polish remover.
Forty-five minute wait: Better, with more oak, chocolate, and fruits, but also thinly textured with something vegetal lurking in the background.

I gave this one 40+ minutes of air again to see what would open up:

NEAT:Color - Penny copperNose - A little pine and farty oak hit immediately. Parting those curtains, I found pleasant spices like mild pepper, ground cloves, and cinnamon; then fresh cherries, leather, corn chips, and Sauternes. It has a small case of The Turps, but not alarmingly so. Also there's an interesting combination of rosewater and body odor.Palate - Mellow. Light rye-ish spices lead off. Pine sap, bubble gum, and white nectarines. There's also something almost peat-like, perhaps Canadian moss?Finish - Lots of bubble gum and menthol with some lemon peel. Mellowness.

This is a chillaxing (sorry, brah) rye. It could have been all that breathing time or it was chosen purposely for its relaxed nature. The nose held some contradictions but remaining fascinating from start to finish. The palate is more consistent and more immediately pleasing. The whole package turned out to be better than the official bottling.

If anyone has a bottle of this Hi-Time Select version open, let me know what you think of it.

Tomorrow, well go back to US Americans and one last bourbon before the scotch comes pouring in.

Availability - Official version can be found at many liquor specialists